Expert: Chris Wagoner - 10/14/2009

Question
QUESTION: I am Luis from Argentina and I am interested in studying to be a Police Officer and then I want to be an Animal Cop.
I don´t know if this is possible because I am not North American.I know that I have to be first a patrol officer for 2 or 3 years before I can request to be transfer to a speciality unit .I like animals very much and dislike people who kill or injure them .So I would like to be an animal cop as I have seen in TV.I noticed that Miami has other units as Broward and Dade County .I would like  to know also if this job is enough to live.Thank you very much for reading my mail .I will be waiting for your answer.Kind regards


ANSWER: Hi Luis,

You are right, you must be a US citizen in order to be a police officer in the US. And you have the other things right also. You are required to serve some time as a patrol officer first.

You may want to consider becoming a citizen, then putting in for the job, and yes they make enough money to live on.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello Chris.Thank you for your mail. I understand that I have to be a Citizen first to be then officer. THINKING in that I would like to know howcan I get this possibility,in legal form,requirements,steps to obtain....
I´ve been born 26th of April 1976 and I would like to now if it is possible for me to be a citizen of US having 33 years old, by the way I goodlike to now if the police have some limitation in age to be an officer.
I THINK this is a very important detail to make my OWN decisions, in what
I am going to do with this I WANT TO DO to live,feel good with my with all animals in Earth and nature.Thank you very much for reading my mail .I will be waiting for your answer.Kind regards LuisMasanés

Answer
Hi Luis,

33 is not to old. There is no age limit by state, only by department. Go to this page and look at the ways to become a citizen:

http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/M-476.pdf

After that process, you can then apply to be a police officer in the US.

Also in just a note, if you join the US military (yes non-US citizens can join) you get fast tracked for citizenship. Just an idea.

If you serve During Hostilities : By Executive Order Number 13269, dated July 3, 2002, President Bush declared that all those persons serving honorably in active-duty status in the Armed Forces of the United States at any time on or after September 11, 2001 until a date to be announced, are eligible to apply for naturalization in accordance with the service during hostilities statutory exception in Section 329 of the INA to the naturalization requirements. This means that individuals with even one day of honorable active duty service can apply for citizenship, regardless of how long they have been a resident. Note: Under this provision, individuals who apply for citizenship after discharge must present a DD Form 214, with service characterized as "Honorable," or "General." Those with other characterizations (including Entry Level Separation), are not eligible.

SO thats an option also.